The Chessmaster's Choice
by Zaynal
Summary: When Jaune met Roman his life changed forever. Adopting the Persona of The Chessmaster, Jaune became a ruthless enforcer of Roman's will. When Roman orders him to enter Beacon to hunt all traitors to the White Fang, he gladly accepted. But when he meets a quiet book loving girl named Blake, he begins to question what he has become. Faced with a choice he finds himself torn.
1. Birth of the Chessmaster

Jaune Arc, 17 years old, bright young man. Accepted into Beacon with the highest score. Only getting one answer wrong in the placement exam. The young man had great potential to be a promising addition to Beacon Academy. So why was it that he had the eyes of a 30 year old?

When Jaune was 11 he was the smartest boy in his class, the teachers loved him but his peers resented him. They would go out of their way to make Jaune miserable. He was lonely, he only had one "friend" and he would only hang out with Jaune outside of school.

When Jaune became twelve he was in some desperate need of companionship. He would daydream sometimes what it would be like to have friends who cared for him, and his one "friend" had gotten him access to a 21 and older club. Bored and curious, Jaune goes in and finds out just out of place he was. Though he didn't understand at the time he would later come to understand that it was a strip club. A drunken man had walked up to the young Jaune. Insulting him, grabbing his hair, spitting in his face. Jaune's eyes had widened in fear. He looked around the place for help but none came. The drunken man fed up with Jaune, decided to punch him in the gut, causing the poor boy to cough up blood.

It was then a man dressed in a white suit and black top hat while smoking a cigar walked up to the drunken man. Raising his cane over the oblivious drunken man's head, he began to choke him.

"I wouldn't mess with this boy, he's with me." Jaune had noticed that everyone in the club looked in awe and fear. This man had something he didn't, respect and admiration. After the drunken man passed out the man approaches Jaune. "Little boy are you alright? My name is Roman Torchwick, what's yours?"

Jaune looked up to the then 18 year old Roman like a big brother, and in turn Roman took Jaune under his wing. When Jaune had turned 13 he had experience making believable fake IDs, hotwiring cars, and laundering money.

When Jaune turned 14 he became proficient in 6 different forms of martial arts, remove traces of hacking, and he had his first kill. It was in self-defense, a bar fight was ensuing and Jaune went in to break it up. When the man pulled out a broken beer bottle on him and cut him across the face, Jaune punched the man multiple times and swept at his legs. Falling, the man lands on the other half of the broken bottle. Bleeding out quickly, the man died. Jaune looked on in horror at what he had done. The next few days were a blur, he would constantly throw up and Roman comforted him and told him that it wasn't his fault. That next time he killed someone, it would be cleaner, less bloody.

When Jaune turned 15 he became Torchwick's enforcer. Making sure deals were honored, and bargains were made, and when they weren't he would remind them that Torchwick didn't like being stolen from. By the time he had turned 16 he was known as The Chessmaster. Elusive, no one other than Roman knew what he looked like, and he issued his orders through untraceable scrolls. Anyone who disobeyed were swiftly dealt with. It was also around this time that Roman joined the White Fang and came to work under a woman named Cinder Fall. Jaune did not like this woman because she lorded over Roman, and Jaune admired Roman above all else. When he turned 17, Roman ordered him to enter into Beacon and find any and all White Fang deserters and execute them. Smiling, Jaune accepts.

Forging the documents were simple enough, and he had the aptitude and combat strength that they would never question them. It was the perfect crime, just one in the long list of them that Jaune committed ever since he met Roman Torchwick. The weak and bullied child no longer existed, only The Chessmaster remained, a hardened criminal who viewed anyone beneath him as pawns to be moved in the grand plan. And he had so many to fish out the traitors who were dumb enough to think they could leave the White Fang.


	2. The King's Piece

Jaune sat on the airship to Beacon. In just a few moments the ship would land and his life as a totally ordinary student would begin. He looks at the watch Roman gave him on his 17th birthday. 3:47 in the afternoon, plenty of time to get some training in. Out of the corner of his eye he notices a familiar girl being hugged to death. Turning his head he notices who the girl was, Ruby Rose. The girl who beat up a good chunk of his men. Jaune's upper lip twists in contempt, but he manages to quickly hide it. He would have to keep tabs on her, she could prove to a major thorn in his side. Hearing a soft bell go off, he pulls out his scroll, puts his earbuds in and listens to the message left by []. That was the symbol Roman used to let Jaune know that the line wasn't secure. Meaning the message was encoded. He hears the voice of a child speak

"The bad little doggies have to be taught a lesson. They have to be given a time out. They left a mess and we have to clean it up and we have to be careful to not make a further mess of things while we cleaned up." The message was clear: find the traitors, kill them and make sure to make it look like an accident. He hits the delete button and takes out the ear buds. He had to make a scene, he had to make people underestimate him, make them think he's a loveable idiot and not a calculating and manipulator person. He knew just the trick. He takes a quick sip of rotted egg mix that he made early. '_The things I do... Down the hatch...' _He gulps it down and his stomach begins to violently react. He had five seconds to get to a trashcan before everything in his stomach left him. He ran, and made it just in time as his body heaved violently. '_Why... why...' _He missed the trashcan and bile was thrown across the floor._  
_

"GROSS YANG YOU HAVE VOMIT ON YOUR SHOE!" Ruby screamed at the girl named Yang.

"GROSSGROSSGROSSGROSSGROSSGROSSGROSSGROSSGROSSGROSSGROSSGROSSGROSSGROSS." The girl named Yang was freaking out and Jaune groaned loudly. '_Never again...' _As the plane touched down, everyone on the ship got out. Jaune weakly got out of the ship and limped slowly towards the school. He sits on the ground to gather his bearings.

As he looks across the floor he sees the Schnee Heiress yelling at Ruby while shaking red Dust at her. _Bad idea... _Sure enough Ruby sneezes and causes an explosion to occur. '_Wow... that is not how you handle Dust lady! __You're going to get us all killed!' _He quickly gets up to walk over there but then he sees a black haired girl wearing a black bow arguing with the Schnee Heiress. '_I'll wait until they're done.' _As they finished arguing, they began walking away and Ruby muttered something under her breath as plops down on the floor. He walks over and offers his hand to her.

"Hi, my name is Jaune." He politely tells her his name.

"Ruby." She takes his hand and smiles. "Hey wait aren't you the guy who threw up on the ship?" '_I hate you so much.' _They end up talking about inconsequential stuff until the topic of weapons came up. She opens up her scythe and Jaune whistles.

"A high impact sniper scythe. Very nice." Jaune runs his hand across the scythe. '_It's made of titanium. Good to know if I need to incapacitate her.'_

"So what you got?" Ruby asks. '_I can't very well tell her my arsenal so I should go with my family sword.' Easier to explain._

"I got this sword and shield. It's a hand me down, my great great grandfather used it to fight in the war." He looks bitterly at the damn thing.

"Sounds more like a family heirloom to me. Well I like it, not many people have an appreciation for the classics these days," she tries to placate him.

"Yeah... the classics..."

"So why'd you help me out back in the courtyard?"

"Eh why not, my mother tells me strangers are just friends you haven't met yet." '_Plus it's easier to manipulate a person who thinks you will cause them no harm.' _Jaune kept that thought to himself, not daring to give it a voice. There was a time and place for everything. As they walked together through the courtyard and had to ask directions on where to go, they headed inside and were separated. '_Finally, playing the part of the Fool is tiring.'_ Jaune twiddles his thumbs waiting for the Headmaster to give his speech of self-discovery or greatness or some other bullshit Jaune didn't particularly care for. Looking around he sees Ruby arguing with the Schnee Heiress. '_Looks like you're off to a GREAT start making friends Ruby.' _Ruby holds out her hand and says something in which the Schnee Heiress sarcastically responds

"We can talk about cute boys like tall, blond and scraggly over there." She points to Jaune. _I hate you. _He decides a little pay back is in order and sneaks up on her.

"I'm a natural blond you know." She facepalms at this. '_Good, the shoe is on the other foot now ISN'T IT!?' _Before he could continue he's interrupted by mic feedback. The Headmaster gives some speech about knowledge not being enough. '_Shows what you know old man. Knowledge is everything, knowledge is the difference between life and death.' _Then a woman walks up to the mic.

"You will gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed." '_Finally a no nonsense lady. My kind of person_.' As night quickly began to creep in he notices the black haired girl with the black bow. He walks up to her and realizes she's reading a book. '_Judging by the color of the spine, I'd wager that's Jekyll and Hyde.'_

"Can I help you?" The girl notices him staring at the book. '_She's good.'_

"Is that book Jekyll and Hyde?" Jaune asks her.

"Yes how did yo-" the girl is interrupted.

"I have the same copy back at home. I recognized the color, had to confirm. My name is Jaune." He holds out his hand. She shakes it.

"Name's Blake, so you like books?" She put a bookmark into book and closes it. She gestures for Jaune to sit down next to her.

"I love books, my dad would read me stories of Heroes and Heroines. Stories of great adventure. But I quickly realized life wasn't a fairy tale and sometimes we don't get a happy ending." '_Sometimes the bad guy wins.' _

"Yeah..." she shifted her eyes downward. "But stories are a great way to distract ourselves. See if we could be different people if our circumstances were just a little bit different." '_I will admit in the early years before I met Roman, I wished I could be different. But when I met him I could have anything I could ever want._'

"You're very talkative for someone who seems to keep to the shadows." Jaune pokes fun at that, she half smiles and then frowns a little.

"I like books, anyone who shares that interest gets to be on my talking side. So what books do you read Mr 'I-stare-at-people-who-are-reading-books.'" Jaune lets out a small chuckle.

"One, I just wanted to see if it was Jekyll and Hyde, Two, I'm glad I did because I found a fellow book enthusiast, and Three, I read whatever interests me. I'm currently reading "I am Number Four" it's an okayish read. Decent story and whatnot. The movie adaptation of it was godawful." He shudders at remembering it. Out of the corner of his eyes he sees Ruby heading towards Blake and him. "Well it was nice talking to you Blake, I'll talk to you later, I'm getting a little sleepy."

"Okay. Sleep well friend." _'I could've sworn I saw her bow twitch. Maybe she's... No I need to gather evidence, not make some wild assumption and put my time here at risk because of it._' He gets up and quickly walks to his sleeping area. He reaches around his neck and takes off his necklace. A Black King's Chess Piece. Putting it down right next to him, he slowly falls asleep, ignoring the arguing and the bickering of people he would slowly get to know..

* * *

Ozpin looks at his scroll and his face drains of color.

_**The Black Rook has summoned The Chessmaster. He has placed himself on the board as the Black King. The game has begun.**_

-Qrow.

* * *

**Author's Note: Jesus christ you guys are awesome. I haven't even released Chapter 2 and it already has a bigger following than "A Simple Heart." Speaking of that, I'm putting that one on break for a while, while I work on this story. I got creatively blocked on it and I'm not coming out of it anytime soon. So enjoy this story in the meantime instead. Also, remember to review, critique, follow, and favorite. Helps me know that you care. Peace. **


	3. We Have a Problem

'_Haven't slept that good in years. This is good, so very good._' Jaune thinks to himself as he slowly rises out of the sleeping bag. _'I need to buy whatever they put in these bags.' _He runs his finger along the bag, Dust. Yawning to himself, he picks up his Chess piece necklace and puts it on. He begins walking to the cafeteria. Breakfast sounded really good to him right now.

* * *

As he finished eating he heads to Locker 636. Initiation would begin shortly and he didn't want to be unprepared. He checks his scroll for any message from [] but nothing had come. Merely shrugging his shoulders he continues onto his locker. Inputting the code that he memorized the moment he got it, he opens his locker. Throwing knives, seven wind polearms that relied on his Semblance to function, dust of every offensive type, and 97 dust-infused grenades. His arsenal was a bit shorthanded, he couldn't afford to bring everything he had. People would get suspicious. He grabs 42 grenades, lightning and ice dust, and his wind polearms that are currently collapsed on themselves. He didn't need the throwing knifes, not yet. Closing his locker he looked around and sees a certain Schnee Heiress making stupid evil faces and chuckles to himself, '_Miss Schnee, you are one strange woman._' Opting to mess with the _Lady_. He sneaks up on her while the other girl just politely waits until Schnee Heiress's weird tangent was over. _  
_

"You know what's great? Me, Jaune Arc. Nice to meet you." '_I'm starting to think I play the part of the fool too well._' She looks visibly annoyed at my interruption.

"You again?"

"Nice to meet you Jaune!" The girl who talking to Weiss pops in. '_She's awfully cheery._'

"So Snow Angel, I couldn't help but hear your fondness of me yesterday." He decides to flex his muscles in a pathetic manner.

"Stop, Pyrrha get this fool out of my face." A javelin comes towards Jaune but a wind wall prevents it from hitting him. '_GODDAMN FUCKING INSTINCTS! I WASN'T SUPPOSED TO SHOW OFF THAT LEVEL OF POWER YET! THANKS A LOT YOU USELESS FUCKING SEMBLANCE._' "What was that?"

"What was what?" Jaune opts for the ignorant approach.

"You just stopped a Javelin from hitting you, what was that?" Schnee Heiress genuinely curious about Jaune now.

"I don't know what you're talking about, I need to go." He tries to run off but she grabs a hold of his arm. "Let go of my arm before I break every single bone in your hand." '_Great, just great. Looks like I won't be playing the fool after all. Why do I have to ruin my own plans because of instinctual habit?_' She lefts go with a look of fear in her eyes.

"Who are you?" Opting to ignore her, he leaves the locker room. He hears footsteps following after him, he picks up his pace and bolts out of there. The footsteps pick up in pace as well and now he knows he's being followed. He bolts around a corner and turns around, waiting for the person following him to go around the corner. The moment she bounds around the corner he activates his Semblance to blind her for a second. Grabbing her arm, he twists it around her back and pins her against the wall.

"What do you want?" Jaune snarled at her. The girl merely smiles.

"You're strong, where did you learn that Mistral Grappling technique?" '_That's it? You chase after me because you're curious about me?_' Jaune lets go of her arm.

"I'm not at liberty to say."

"Oh, you're secretive, interesting. My name is Pyrrha, we didn't get a chance to talk. Thought I'd introduce myself." Jaune looks at her suspiciously.

"I'm Jaune, there, introduction done." Jaune walks off, Pyrrha following.

"So is that your Semblance? The Wind Wall I mean. Control over the flow of wind?" Jaune clicks his tongue.

"Yes. I control wind. Crude way of putting it though. I have to go do something, we'll talk after initiation." Jaune attempts to walk off again, this time with Pyrrha only waving goodbye.

* * *

Jaune stood on the launch pad. He didn't bother listening to Ozpin or Goodwitch. He already knew the objective. Get the relic, kill everything, get back. Simple, left less chance for failure. Jaune liked that. He closed his eyes and gathered his Aura. Complete concentration was required to fly with wind. It required ever vigilance and one screw up could mean death. Jaune is forced into the air and he draws out the wind polearms. He connects them together as they slowly come alive with the wind flowing through them. They then quickly form into metallic wings, which Jaune fills with his Semblance. Which creates a thin blue, almost film like substance and he begins flying.

"THAT IS SO COOL! YOU DIDN'T SHOW ME THAT WHEN YOU SHOWED ME YOUR SWORD!" Jaune turns his head towards Ruby, who's fangirling over his wings. He merely chuckles softly.

"I had stuff to get to, sorry Ruby but I don't plan on partnering up with you. No hard feelings." Jaune takes out a lightning dust bottle and throws it behind him. He turns back towards and hits it with a wind blast, it explodes and causes him to fly farther away from Ruby before she got a chance to respond. After a few minutes he begins to slow down as he see a temple, he begins his descent. The moment his foot touches the floor, his wings dismantle and disassemble back into seven polearms that floated around him.

"That's some impressive weaponry you got there Jaune." '_Jesus Christ does everyone in this school sneak up on me? I think I might be either losing my touch or I'm outclassed._'

"Hello Blake, it seems you and I are partners. Grab the relic and let's head off before any Grimm show up. I'm not in the mood for a fire fight." Blake looks at him inquisitively, doesn't say anything. She walks up and grabs a Knight Piece.

"What's a King without his Knight?" She says while looking at his necklace. Jaune smiles. They hear Grimm howling around them.

"Shit I was hoping we could avoid them. Do you trust me?" He stares into her eyes. She hesitates for a moment before she reluctantly nods. "Get down." He takes out his sword and channels his Semblance into it. He twirls his body around a full 360 while swing his sword. A wind blade cuts through everything within a 10 meter radius, trees and Grimm.

"Woah, that's powerful." Jaune collapses. "Jaune you okay?"

"Yeah... that attack tends to take a bit out of me, give me your shoulder so I can lean on it. Wrapping his left arm around her shoulder, Blake slowly gets up and they begin walking towards the bridge. They hear wings flapping and someone screaming.

"RUN! THERE'S A NEVERMORE ON YOUR TAIL!" Yang screams at Blake and Jaune.

"Shit..." Jaune mutters to himself.

* * *

Ozpin looks over the progress of the students while sipping his coffee. Jaune's Semblance interested him, it reminded him of his old master's Semblance. Ozpin continues to sip his coffee. A message on his scroll appears.

**_The Chessmaster has executed the White Knight. _**

-Qrow

Ozpin's hands begin shaking and drops the coffee cup to the ground.

"Glynda, we have a problem."

* * *

**Author's Note: Oh look, an action Jaune has done between the timespan of yesterday and today that I didn't write about. Maybe I'll write about it next chapter. ;3 Remember to Review, Critique, Favorite, Follow. Just to let me know you care. Take care you guys. **


	4. The Hunter's Adrenaline

As Jaune walks away from the waving Pyrrha, he hears a soft beeping coming from his scroll. Putting in his ear buds he begins to listen. It was a message from [] meaning that once more meant the line wasn't secure.

**_"I wanted to get my son a present for his birthday. I thought toy robots would be nice, he loves his toys. But this shop owner refuses to sell me any, says that he's just run out. But I know he still has stock, I think he hates me. What should I_ do?"**

Jaune merely responds with a "I'll take care of it." The message said, "Ironwood has the Paladins we need, but he refuses to sell them to us. Kill him and take the robots." He pinched the bridge of his nose. He couldn't take out the hit personally, so he had to opt to do things behind the shadows. He preferred it that way.

He encodes a message to Neo, telling her to make sure the area around Ironwood is safe and secure and to make sure Mercury and Emerald don't renege on the order. She was the only one he trusted other than Roman in the damn organization. And two more messages: one to Mercury, telling him to make sure to kill him and leave a White Knight Chess Piece near his body, and one to Emerald, telling her to steal the Paladins through the abandoned subways. He had no time to make sure if the plan off without a hitch, he had to be at the initiation place. He could only place fragile trust in them to get the job done.

* * *

"RUN! THERE'S A NEVERMORE ON YOUR TAIL!" Yang screams at Blake and Jaune.

"Shit..." Jaune mutters to himself. He turns to Blake, "leave me behind. I can distract it, buy you some time." She tilts her head.

"You serious? We're partners now, partners stick together." She takes her weapon out, places him against a tree and goes to fight the giant bird. '_Goddamn this fatigue. I HATE owing people._' Yang and Pyrrha finally catch up to Blake and join her in the fight. Jaune looks at the way they're fighting and realizes, '_They're hitting the wrong points. They can't kill that thing by hitting the wrong points._' Sighing and grimacing slightly he reaches into his back pocket, Ice Dust and Crystallized Aura. He creates an air bowl to pour a gram of Ice Dust and the entire bottle of Crystallized Aura, grabbing grass and putting it into the bowl, he begins mixing the bowl. He was making the Hunter's Adrenaline, it was dangerous and potentially lethal, and he was desperate for a fighting edge against the Nevermore.

"WHY WON'T IT GO DOWN!" Yang screams at it as she keeps feeding it fire punches into its mouth. It was now or never, Jaune downed the drink and he felt his body cooling very quickly, and then Jaune's Aura kicked into overdrive. The air around him was spinning wildly and he knew he only had five minutes. Lifting up slowly he levitates toward the people fighting the big black bird.

"Pyrrha, you seem like a good shot, the moment I ground the Nevermore I want you to keep it pinned down. Blake and Yang, I want you to hit its neck as hard as you can and behead the damn thing." Not waiting for their responses, Jaune begins. Raising his hands and crunching them he begins to move the wind rapidly downwards underneath the Nevermore's wings. His nerves were on fire and blood was pouring out from his eyes and nose. '_Not yet! Got to keep at it so they can kill the damn thing!_' After a good three minutes of taking the wind out the bird's wings it begins to descend and quickly the bird crashes onto the ground.

Pyrrha grabs the polearms fitted with Ice Dust Canisters at Jaune's signal and throws them. The moment they make contact they rapidly freeze the Nevermore's wings into the ground. Yang and Blake cross attack the Nevermore's neck and behead it. Smiling Jaune begins falling to the side, his Aura nearly burned out, his vision fading fast.

He didn't even hear his name being called out in worry, nor did he feel his body being carried off.

* * *

Jaune wakes in a completely white landscape all around him. He wasn't sure where he was, nor could he remember how he got here. He tries looking around to see if there's anything that's familiar but he finds none. Everything is white, no trees, no ground, no sky, just white.

"Where am I?" He continues to look around, expecting to find something.

"That is a good question. Where are you?" A voice behind Jaune speaks. Flipping around, he finds nothing, just the white expanse.

"Who are you and where are you?" Jaune keeps scrambling around.

"I think the better question is, who are you?" A voice whispers in his ear. "Are you a little boy, who's desperate for companionship?" The white begins to change and becomes the classroom where Jaune would get picked on. He sees young Jaune crying to the teacher and the teacher rubbing his back in reassurance. "Or are you a killer? With no remorse and a manipulative streak that would bring suffering to all those who would dare cross you?" The classroom scene changes to one where Jaune is wearing a black and white mask, issuing orders to various White Fang Faunus. It was the day Roman began working with them, and the day Jaune realized Roman was an underling, not the huge boss he was led to believe he was. He was furious because he never knew, and he hated Cinder Fall for treating Roman like a child. Most of all, she had the audacity to order Jaune around, like he was some mere pawn. "OR ARE YOU NEITHER?! WHAT IF ALL OF THIS IS JUST A CRY FOR-" The voice stops and the ground underneath Jaune's feet begins to dissolve. Gravity embraces him and he falls.

* * *

"He's up!" A woman's voice rings out. Jaune hears a loud periodic beeping noise, a heart monitor. "Hello young man, you gave us quite the scare. We haven't seen Aura exhaustion like that since the time of the war." The woman's voice was sweet, but her eyes were distant, detached. And then the pain hits him full throttle and he lets out a scream. It felt like every part of him was on fire. "Relax, we're just giving you an Aura transfusion, it'll sting for a while. Also congratulations are in order, you've been made Leader of your team." Jaune blankly stares at the lady and tilts his head.

"Team? What are you talking about?" Saying no word the lady turns on the TV and presses the play button. It shows Blake, Pyrrha, and Yang standing on the stadium. Ozpin drinks his coffee and calls out.

"Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Lie Ren, Nora Valkyrie, you collected the White Rook pieces. From this moment on you will be known as Team RWRN(Ruin). Led by Ruby Rose." Yang casts a proud look towards her little sister. "Blake Belladonna, Jaune Arc, Yang Xiao Long, and Pyrrha Nikos, you collected the White Knight pieces. From this moment on you will be known as Team BALN(Balm). Led by Jaune Arc, who at the current moment is in the infirmary receiving some medical attention."

Ozpin continued talking about other teams but Jaune was busy thinking about the fact he had been made leader of a team he felt forced upon him. Before he can say anything his teammates walk up to him.

"Hey there Vomit Boy, how you feeling?" Yang teases him. '_I hate you so much right now._' He merely shrugs.

"So what's with the welcoming committee? I haven't really done much to warrant a visit, I don't think." Jaune chuckles before wincing and grabbing his stomach in pain.

"What was that back there?" Blake questions him and Jaune frowns. "One moment you're exhausted and then the next you're radiating enough Aura to burn a fifty mile wide hole in the ground." Jaune merely mutters an ah at that. Pyrrha pipes up.

"It's a potion called Hunter's Adrenaline. It forceably unlocks the Aura Inhibitors in a Hunter's body. It's a last ditch effort to prevent Grimm from destroying towns or villages. Or in our case, preventing a big black bird from killing people. It's a dangerous potion that isn't lethal but it might as well be. It damages the body's natural ability to create Aura and it takes a while for the body to fix itself."

"How long of a while are we talking about?" Yang asks curiously.

"Depends, people with healing Aura about two weeks. Those without it, one month." Jaune dismissively says. "I have healing aura, so I'll be fine." Blake glares at him.

"Fine? I don't call almost dying, fine." Blake crosses her arms. Jaune merely shrugs, as he receives a notification on his scroll.

"I got to take this. One moment." Jaune brushes off what she says and pops in his earphones to listen to the notification. He quickly wished he had checked who was from before he pressed play, it was from []. What the message ended up amounting to was this: Ironwood was dead, the paladins were acquired, and a White Knight Chess Piece left on top of Ironwood's corpse. Jaune smiles at this, it meant that Mercury and Emerald could follow orders, his orders. Maybe with a little poking and prodding, he could get them to switch allegiances to Roman, maybe.

"Hello~ Earth to Jaune~ Anyone home? What was that scroll message about?" Yang waves her hand in front of Jaune. He frowns as he takes out his earphones and deletes the message.

"Oh, it was just a message from my dad. He told me about his trip to Vacuo. Nothing special." Jaune calmly lied through his teeth. "Here lemme show you the pictures he to- dammit I accidentally hit the delete button. Oh well." It was going to be a long two weeks, but Jaune had people to keep him company. People he purposely made worry about him, people who would now forever think of him as the idiot with the heart of gold. And no one ever thinks the idiot to be the one with all the cards.

* * *

"This isn't a coincidence Ozpin. The Rook summoned the Chessmaster and that bastard took out our friend! I know Ironwood was war happy, but he took out one of goddamn Chess Pieces. This bloody game of Chess has begun and lives are being taken!" Qrow yelled at Ozpin. Ozpin looks out the window and sips his coffee.

"Then we will have to find a new piece to play. Take care Qrow, these are dangerous times we live in."

* * *

**Author's Note: Well this chapter took me longer than I thought it would to write. Sorry about the short fight scene, I wasn't feeling the muse in that one. Hopefully you guys don't mind. Anyhow Read, Review, Critique, Fav, Follow. I love you guys 3**


	5. Mutually Non-Beneficial Circumstances

**_5 years ago_**

"A child Roman? I know you are insane but a child? Have you lost all sense in your head?" Neo crosses her arms. Roman turns around and glares at her.

"I looked into this boy's life, his schoolwork, his lineage, the whole thing. And he has potential and he has self-doubt. He's been bullied and cowed and he hasn't a friend in the world. I'm thinking I can use him, mold him into what I need." Neo pinches the bridge of her nose.

"You just pity the boy. You see a bit of your past in him, don't you?" Roman doesn't answer, he merely looks outside the window. He would never admit that he had quickly grown a soft spot for the kid, and he would damn well make sure no one would find out.

"Don't tell anyone, not even the boy." Neo looks surprised for a moment, she nods. "I'm going to make him my shadow. No one can know who he is, he can operate during the day without rousing suspicion. And..." He falls silent and he hangs his head down. He begins walking off. Neo knew what he was going to say before he cut himself off. Despite her protests a small smile threatened to appear on her face.

* * *

_**3 years ago**_

Jaune is watching a man bleed to death, horror dawning heavily on his face. Bile threatened to come out of his throat. Breathing heavily, tears fall from his eyes.

"I'm so sorry! Please don't die!" He screams at and pleads with the man. But to no avail, the light from his eyes dulled and he was no more. Barely registering the arms wrapping around him and dragging him away. The distance between him and the dead man grew farther and farther. Until a door closed and he could no longer see. Looking around he sees Neo putting rubbing alcohol on a cotton ball and Roman rubbing Jaune's shoulder.

"You were so brave Jaune. I'm so proud of you. Now this is going to sting a bit, but you should trust Neo, she's the best medic we got. She'll fix the cuts and bruises you got from that." Roman ruffles Jaune's hair and he weakly nods at what Roman said. Neo walked up to Jaune and gently places the wet cotton ball on his forehead and his face twists in pain.

"Oh don't be such a baby, it's just rubbing alcohol," Neo teases him a bit. He weakly smiles at this. She finishes cleaning him up and places band-aids on his forehead and arms. "Try not to get hurt next time, you have a pretty face, it'd be a pity if it was disfigured." Roman chuckles as Jaune blushes a deep shade of crimson at her teasing.

"So Jaune, I know you feel awful and I know you feel sick to your stomach, but I really want you to know that I'm really proud of you. And don't feel bad about that piece of shit, he had it coming." Jaune meekly nods at this. "Feel free to take a nap, I can only imagine how tiring this all has been for you. Don't worry, Neo will keep you company if you need someone to talk to."

* * *

_**1 year ago**_

A scowl appears on his face. He wasn't pleased with these turn of events. Who was this Cinder Fall person? And why did she presume to lord over Roman? It made no sense to Jaune, none whatsoever. He stares at the woman with flames in her dress, hoping to find something that would help him find out who she was. Only betraying a slight smirk, Jaune knew he would get nothing out of this so he looks the other way.

"Roman. Who's the boy?" She frowns a little and put a finger to her lips. As if trying to remember who he is.

"He's no one important, now about our deal. Let's discuss it in my office. Oh and Neo, make sure to keep him company." Roman orders her. Looking bored, Cinder slowly follows after, her gaze lingering on Jaune the entire time. Sighing to himself he sat down on the couch near him. He couldn't figure out who this woman was. He glances at the companions she brought with her, a green haired girl who's blowing bubbles with her gum, and a silver haired guy who had his arms crossed and looked pissed off. Not wanting to bother with them he begins to take out a book to read before the green haired girl pipes up.

"What book is that?" She walks up to him and squats on her knees. Displeased that he didn't get a chance to read, closes the book and hands it to her. "Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. That's an old one." She hands him back the book while sneakily taking something away.

"Give it back." Jaune wasn't pleased. He didn't like it when people took things that belonged to him. A look of surprise dawns on her face.

"You have a good eye, what did you say your name was?" Curiosity clearly written all over her face as she hands him back the item she took.

"I didn't." Jaune curtly responds before opening up the book to read. His face contorting in rage.

* * *

Cinder poked at the snow globe on Roman's desk, only mildly aware of the conversation with Roman. She places a single on top of it and directs a small fire the size of a lighter on it, causing it to have a blackened mark on it.

"Roman. Who was that boy?" Her simple question stopping Roman's speech mid sentence. Shifting uncomfortably he sits down.

"He's no one, just a bodyguard I hired last summer. He's really good at his job."

"Hmmm. Let's get started on our mutually beneficial situation. You give me complete control over your organization and you work closely with the White Fang," Cinder toyed with Roman. Roman laughed.

"That doesn't sound like a mutually beneficial to me. That sounds purely beneficial only to you."

"Oh Roman, don't be like that. Think of it this way. If you refuse, I kill you and your little brother." Cinder grabs a paperweight off of Roman's desk and incinerates it in her hand. Roman's eyes cloud in anger and fear.

"You're bluffing."

"I know your real last name. I know how your parents disowned you for your violent streaks. So don't take my words lightly Torchwick. Or should I say Rouge A-"

"ENOUGH! Fine you win," Roman interrupts and slumps in the chair. "You better pray I don't get some leverage on you Cinder. Because I will burn everything you've built to the ground."

"Go ahead and try."

* * *

"Neo you can come out now. I know you were there all along." Roman sighs to himself.

"Should we tell Jaune?"

"No he'll only get himself killed. He can't know. He can never know."

* * *

**Present Time**

Jaune cringed in pain as he got up from the bed. His body still suffering from the fight with the Nevermore. Breathing heavily he slows his ascent out of bed. He was glad the nurse was out right now, he wasn't supposed be out of bed this early. As he slowly puts on his clothing and removing the IVs attached to him, he hears footsteps behind him.

"Getting out of bed early Mr. Arc?" A voice calls out to him, then he hears a slurp from a cup.

"Hello Professor Ozpin." Jaune doesn't bother to turn around.

"That was a impressive sight to behold. Taking out the wind from under the wings of the beast? Clever, very clever. Your father would be proud if he was alive to see." Jaune hears another slurp from the cup but when he turns around Ozpin has left. Looking down he sighs to himself, Jaune never knew much of his father. His mother made sure of that.

He puts on his King's Piece necklace and he walks out of the room.


	6. Fear

"ROUGE! STOP HIM! I DON'T WANT DADDY TO MAKE ME FORGET YOU!" Roman's little brother had screamed out. But he was powerless to stop it. It was always the same dream, always that scared look in the boy's eyes. Haunting him for failing to protect him. When his _father _had wiped his little brother's memories, Roman's last connection to his former name died. He vowed that until his brother remembered who he was, he'd become Roman Torchwick. But the nightmares never stopped.

* * *

"MR ARC! WHAT A SURPRISE TO SEE YOU OUT OF THE NURSE'S INFIRMARY SO SOON!" The boisterous man booms at Jaune. "TAKE YOUR SEAT AND CLASS MAY BEGIN!" Jaune quickly sits down next to Blake. She turns to him and glares.

"You should be in the infirmary resting!" She pokes Jaune's chest, causing him to wince in pain. Noticing this, she frowns more. "You are an idiot, Jaune Arc."

"MY NAME IS PROFESS PORT AND I WILL BE TEACHING YOU ABOUT GRIMM BIOLOGY!" The boisterous man booms once more. "BUT FIRST I WOULD NEED A VOLUNTEER!" Jaune begins to raise his hand but Blake grabs it and shoves it down. He opens his mouth to protest.

"You're hurt, I'm not allowing you to volunteer for something that might involve fighting." She cuts him off before he can say anything. A look of bemusement dawns on Yang's face.

"Yang I swear to god if you make a pun I will punch you straight in the jaw." Jaune warns. She still grins and puts on sunglasses.

"Wow Blake, no need to sMOTHER him to death." Pyrrha giggles at the horrible pun. Jaune looks at her, hurt.

"Pyrrha that was the worst pun I've ever heard. Why is that funny?" She merely shrugs.

"AH YES MISS SCHNEE! THANK YOU FOR VOLUNTEERING! PLEASE COME FORWARD" Port chuckles a little as the SDC Heiress walks up. "YOU WILL BE TEST ON YOUR CLOSE COMBAT SKILLS! PREPARE YOUR WEAPON!" Right as he said that, Port destroyed the lock on the cage behind him. Jaune hears a soft beeping from his scroll. His eyes darken, '_Roman. What are you doing? You know I'm in the middle of class._' He glances at it and is relieved its a text message and not a voice message. '_**This message has been forwarded to you by **_**[]. _Original sender unknown.__ Open?_**' Jaune opens the message and a picture of a man in what seems to be late 20s. '_**This is Tukson. He runs a bookshop in Downtown. He's packing up to move to Vacuo. He's former White Fang. Make him formally alive**_**.**'

Jaune quietly swears to himself. If a kill order comes in during a time when he should have off... It means it was serious. Turning his head to Blake, she was paying attention to what appeared to be a fight between a Boarbatusk and the SDC Heiress. She seemed to also be yelling at her Team Leader to shut up.

"Weiss! You have to hit it under it's body. It doesn't have armor there!" Ruby yelled. '_I can see why she's mad. She feels like Ruby's words are condescending._' Thankfully for Jaune this was the last class of the day and the bell quickly rings. Rushing quickly to his locker, not bothering to wait for his teammates. His body protested heavily with his increased speed but he paid it no heed. He grabs his Dust and Vials and headed to the dorm rooms. Once there he begins changing into his casual clothing. Taking the Lightning Dust and some other stuff, he pours it into a bowl and mixes it to create one of the most deadly poisons known to man. Aura Poison. It takes the body's own natural defense mechanism and it turns it into what kills the person. It was the White Fang's preferred method of assassination.

Pouring it all into a vial, he walks out of dorm room before his teammates can arrive. He needed to head to downtown Vale and he only had five minutes left before the 3:45 ship took off. It was the last ship he could take if he was going to catch Tukson today. 3:41 He was outside of the Dorm Hall, 3:42 he was outside of Beacon, 3:43 he arrived at the Airship. Out of breath he boards it and notices a beeping on his scroll. '_**You have received a message from Blake Belladonna.**_**_ Open_?**' Hitting the decline button, he mentally prepares himself for Tukson. He had to have complete focus.

As the engine began to hum, Jaune slowly drifts off into sleep.

* * *

"Welcome Heir Arc." The white landscape was there again. Looking around Jaune still couldn't find the origin of the voice. "Save your energies young man. You cannot find that which is not truly there."

"WHO ARE YOU!" Jaune screams. Confused about the cryptic message the disembodied voice gave. "WHY AM I HERE?!" He hears a child laughing.

"That's a good question Young Arc. Remember that you are not alone. That your actions have consequences. And that not everything is as it appears..." The voice begins fading away and the ground under Jaune gives way. Falling he wakes.

* * *

Rubbing his eyes and yawning, Jaune hears a dinging noise above him.

"We have arrived at Downtown Vale, please grab any and all personal items and make your way out of the-" The last of the words in the sentence quickly fade away as he quickly rushed to Tukson's shop.

After 20 minutes of searching he finds the store. 5:00 pm. The store would close in one hour, more than enough time. Placing a handkerchief in his hand, he opens the door to make sure his fingerprints don't get on the store door. Entering the store, a man who had a copious amount of sideburns greeted him.

"Hello! Welcome to Tukson's Book Trade! Where we have every book under the sun." The man tiredly says his catchphrase. Jaune smiles.

"Long day?"

"Like you wouldn't believe. Anything in particular you're looking for?" He asks nicely.

"Do you have "The King's Role in Chess" by Alias Fall?"

"Ah yes, I still have a copy of that, two in fact. Would you like hardcover or paperback?"

"Paperback would be preferable. Thank you." As Tukson goes into the back of the shop, Jaune plants a Black Pawn Chess Piece in front of the counter on the floor. As Tukson return Jaune browsed through the books, handkerchief in hand.

"Would you like some water sir? You look quite parched."

"Thank you, do you think you could maybe have a cup for yourself as well? I'd like to make a toast to becoming leader of my team at Beacon." Tukson smiles at what Jaune said and nods. Taking out cups he places them on the counter and goes back to grab the pitcher of water. Eyes narrowing Jaune quickly pours the colorless powder of Aura Poison into the cup. When Tukson returns, Jaune's reading the first couple pages of the book. Pouring water into the cups, they toast to Jaune's becoming leader. As Tukson downs the water, his face becomes reddened and he begins sweating.

"I'm sorry Tukson." Jaune lied. "The White Fang does not appreciate abandonment."

* * *

Sleeping peacefully in his bed, Jaune thought it would be a good idea to leave Tukson to die on his own. Leave the man to die in dignity.

"Jaune wake up!" Blake yells in his ear. "Did you hear the news?" Jaune groans in protest, clearly it was a Saturday and clearly it was 11 in the morning. "A local bookstore owner was poisoned by the White Fang. He's in the hospital." Taking a second to wake, he responds with a single flat,

"What?" Clearly the plan of leaving the man to die on his own failed horrendously. An emotion he had not felt in a long time began to set in.

_**Fear**_.

* * *

**Author Note: Two Chapters within the span of two days? You guys are getting spoiled, heh. Remember: Read, Review, Critique, Fav, Follow. All that fun stuff. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. **


	7. A Student

_**Present Time**_

Jaune waited in the passenger's seat as Neo drove the ambulance to the hospital where Tukson currently was residing in. Neo wasn't uttering a single word but Jaune had grown accustomed to it. Jaune ran the logistics of his plan in his mind over and over again. The poison should've taken him out, it should've killed Tukson, but it didn't. Now he was left scrambling to fix his mess. Wearing an authentic looking Doctor's uniform, he had worn brown contact lenses and a black wig.

"Thanks Neo for helping me out like this... I really appreciate it." Jaune mumbles.

"Don't thank me, you getting outed is a headache none of us want to deal with." Neo smirks a bit. "Though I can't believe Roman pawned off that job on you. You're not a goddamn Pawn. You're our tactician, you get fucked we're all screwed."

"I'm not that valuable. Roman just humors me with the plans I come up with. I'm sure he'll do fine without me." Jaune drums his hands on his lap. Neo shakes her head but she doesn't say anything further. The drive to the hospital was a quiet one, but Jaune didn't mind. He knew Neo didn't say much beyond what she needed to, or maybe she was still hesitant to form a bond with him. He didn't mind, he knew he trusted his life in her hands and that's all that mattered. As the ambulance drew close to the hospital he turned to Neo.

"The objective is different than the one that was for me. I've changed it, I'm not going to be the one to kill Tukson. We're taking him to Roman and dumping this mess on him. He was the one that received the orders and I don't want a repeat of me trying to kill the damn guy and have him survive another day like some stupid villain of some stupid cartoon." Jaune ranted a bit, Neo merely shrugged. Now that the ambulance had fully stopped, he stepped out of the vehicle. Breathing in and out he steps forward. He could never stop that nervous feeling that came with convincing people of something he wasn't.

His revised objective was much simpler: find someone gullible, convince them Tukson was being transferred, take him, and deliver him to Roman. Breathing in much slower, he calms his nerves and enters the building. The smell of cleaning products reminded him of death. Fitting for a building that dealt with pain and loss on a constant basis.

People walked past him, not paying any attention to him. Smiling he walks and surveys his surroundings. This might harder than he thought, everyone looked like they knew each other. Swearing under his breath, he's just about to move and someone taps his shoulder. Turning around he sees a nurse who's older than him by a few years.

"You must be Dr Lawrence. Central told us you'd be here to transfer the patient named Tukson." Jaune laughed inwardly. This would be much easier.

"Did they tell you anything beyond that? Like why the transfer?" Jaune had to keep up the facade of the weary doctor.

"Officially? Central Vale is better equipped to deal with his... condition." He linger on that word.

"And the real reason?"

"This type of poison is used by the White Fang. Central is going to get him better and then question him." Jaune frowned, this was a problem. But soon it wouldn't be.

* * *

The ride to HQ was a long one. Jaune was trapped in his thoughts. Why did he leave Tukson to himself, forcing this mission to happen? Sighing to himself, he didn't know. Neo notices and places a hand on his shoulder.

"Jaune it's going to be alright. You're not an assassin. Roman needs to realize that direct kill orders are not your specialty. You're better at giving orders." Neo gives a small smile.

"Thanks." Jaune stares out the window. He wasn't sure what he was at this point, but he did know he didn't appreciate being delegated messy work.

"Forty minutes until we reach Roman. If you want to take a nap, go ahead. You look a little tired. Nodding his head, Jaune closes his eyes. Sleep quickly came.

* * *

The same white landscape surrounds Jaune. Not bothering to look around the disembodied voice began to speak.

"You look well Jaune, no longer surprised to 'see' me?" It gave a small chuckle.

"What is this place?" Jaune gestures towards everywhere.

"This is a place that has been fractured within your mind. A place that once head great meaning to you, but it was stolen from you."

"How?" Jaune asks.

"Tell me a story Jaune, I like stories. Tell me why you hate your father." The voice dismisses his question. Sighing Jaune sits down on the floor.

"There once was a boy of 7 who looked up to his father. This boy wanted to be just like his father. A hunter and a protector of the weak." He narrates indifferently. "The boy would swing his sword and practice, days on end, dedicated to making the man called father proud. One day however the father sees him and strikes him across the face. He said that such a weak CHILD would never be able to become a powerful hunter. That a CHILD would never understand the hell that Hunters witnessed on a daily basis. He told the boy to just go dance with his sisters and sing like nothing mattered." Jaune bitterly utters. "That was the last thing my father ever said to me. Before he disappeared to god knows where."

"Hmmm," the voice ponders this for a moment. "But is that really how it happened?"

"What do you me-" He couldn't finish before the scenery around him dissolved and once more he was awake.

* * *

_**Present Time-**_**Headquarters**

"Hey there blondie," Roman takes the cigar out of his mouth. "How was the rest?"

"I slept okay. Tukson's in the back." Jaune gestures behind him. Roman chuckles. Opening the ambulance door he gets out of the vehicle.

"Its already taken care of. Sorry for dumping the kill order on you buddy. I had my hands tied up." Roman takes out a briefcase. "That's why, to make it up to you, here's some..." He opens it and shows it to Jaune. "... Dust Crystals. The finest in the land." Fire Crystals, Lightning Crystals, Ice Crystals, and so much more. Jaune smile at this. He takes a couple out and walks over to Neo.

"Here you go Neo, seeing how you always help me." Jaune holds out his hand and Neo takes the crystals. Before she could thank him, Jaune's scroll starts ringing. It was Yang. Taking out his ear buds and connecting them to the scroll he answers the line. "What is it?" He asks with an annoyed tone.

"Awww, no love for your precious teammate oh valued and powerful leader?" Yang teases.

"Get to the point." He responds, not wanting to deal with it.

"Well, Blake and Pyrrha were worried about how you suddenly stormed out of the dorm when you saw the news this morning. Was that Tukson guy someone close to you?" '_Shit_, Jaune thinks to himself. He was not ready to deal with this.

"Not really? I had remembered that I had to go do something." He lies through his teeth.

"Well by the sounds of it, you seem pretty done. When are you coming back? Ren made some pancakes, they're really good. Get here before they're all gone."

"Who?" Jaune begins to question before a beeping noise informed him that she had dropped the call. Sighing, he turns to Roman. "Looks like the student job beckons for me." He mock bows.

* * *

**_Present Time_-Beacon Library**

Blake was quietly reading her book in the library. It was a good book, her current mood was adventure books, so adventure she read. Her eyes darting across the pages, her mind devouring the words and sentences as she went along. She liked her books, they allowed her to witness a world unseen and untouched. It was in books she found solace, in books she found friends, in books she found love. So when a certain blonde haired boy interrupted her trip to fantasy land, she made no attempt to hide her displeasure of being taken away from it.

"Yes Jaune?" She asked, making her annoyance very clear and distinct in her voice. Jaune chuckled to himself, he could never sneak up on the bow wearing girl.

"Where's Yang? Also nice book, I heard it was a good series. What's it about?" He looks at the cover. Placing a bookmark into the book she turns to him.

"It's about a woman who was given a choice, obedience or exile. She chose exile and its about her journey from a scared girl to a warrior queen who toppled her oppressive society's view on gender. It's a good book, you should read it." Blake calmed down a bit. Asking her what book she was reading always manage to cheer her up a bit. Jaune nods and grabs a different book. "Also Yang's probably flirting with Pyrrha and/or Ren. Wouldn't surprise me if she flirted with them at the same time." Jaune chuckles at the last comment.

"Everyone keeps talking about Ren as if I know the guy. It's not like we've met before." Jaune sighs. Blake raises an eyebrow.

"Well, you'd know who's who if you didn't always disappear to god knows where."

"I am hurt, I don't disappear to a place no one knows about. I disappear to places I know about. There's a difference." Blake rolled her eyes. "Also, I've noticed that you only really speak to me, not the others. Why's that?" Blake looked away.

"You... It's easier to talk to you. You like books and you know when to stop talking when I want do something else." She admitted.

"Ah, well, books are my best friend." Jaune sticks his tongue out at her. Blake's bow twitched for a moment, or at least Jaune thought it did. Blinking a couple times he sees that it didn't twitch. '_Get a hold of yourself Jaune. It's just a bow._' Sighing to himself he puts his arms on the table and rests his head. Today was tiring for Jaune. So many errands, so many things to do. One thing was for sure though, he had to stop using Aura Poison. It was too traceable. Taking out his scroll and encrypting a message to Roman, he lets him know everything that transpired.

* * *

_**The one who poisoned Tukson is a student. Unsure whether your's or another's. Tukson went missing before he could be transferred. A chess piece was also found at his bookshop. This is speculation but I suspect The Chessmaster is around the age of 17. I'll let you know when I know more. **_

_**-**_**Qrow**

Ozpin stared at the message and frowned. That's all central was able to get out of Tukson while he was in the hospital? It was a small wonder. Still, he didn't like the implications. Quietly pondering the events thus far he takes a sip of his coffee.

"Just who are you?"


End file.
